The Chinese Mirror

Battle Exploits (1925)

    Although not one of our award winners for 1925, this film from that year also deserves attention. We don't know how popular it was with audiences, but it was very timely, as it dealt with a topic of considerable concern in China at the time, i.e. warlordism.  (For background, consult the excellent Wikipedia article on the subject.)  By 1925 the fledgling Chinese Republic, begun with such high hopes, had suffered through nearly a decade of  continuous civil conflict, with warfare going on somewhere in the country during that time.  The central government seemed powerless to stop it, and those suffering most (as in all wars) were the civilians, and that was the movie's focus.  For in spite of its title, this was not a war movie in the usual sense, but rather a look at how war affects the ordinary people who are charged with fighting it, in this case two love stories related against the background of war.  
     From the film historian's standpoint, the film is notable for its casting, which included major stars of the time as well as several future marquee names starting out in small, even uncredited, roles.  In addition, the male and female leads, Wang Yuanlong and Zhang Zhiyun, played both pairs of lovers, a dual-role casting device which later became commonplace, but was innovative at the time.

Zhan Gong (1925) 战功 (Battle Exploits)
alt. English title:  Amid the Rattle of Musketry

    Da Zhonghua.  Silent, with Chinese and English intertitles.  9 reels.  Premiered May 9, 1925 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai.  Producer:  Lu Jie.  Director:  Xu Xinfu.  Screenplay:  San San.   English Captioning:  Su Gongjuan.  Cinematography:  Jingguangfu+.   Cast:  Wang Yuanlong (Wang Yihua/Zhu Zhuofu), Zhang Zhiyun (Zhang Yijun/Tong Yihan), Li Minghui (Wang Lihua), Hu Die (Hu Cuiying), Tang Jie (Tang Zigang), Zhao Chen (Zhao Xiaowei).
(+indicates the transliteration of a foreign name, which is unknown.)   

    Wang Yihua, scion of a noble family, and his girlfriend Tong Yihan are in love.  One day, when Yihua and his younger sister Lihua are visiting relatives in the countryside, he meets Zhang Yijun, a woman who dresses in male clothing.  The two strike up a friendship.  The siblings return to the city, and soon thereafter Yijun shows up.  She and Yihua renew their friendship, which upsets his girlfriend Yihan.  
     When their girls school holds a benefit musical performance to help people in a disaster-stricken area, Lihua and Yihan take the stage to perform.  Yihua and Yijun attend, as do Yihua's old friend Zhao Xiaowei and his friend Zhu Zhuofu.  When they are introduced before the performance, Yijun and Zhuofu appear somewhat surprised.  

[a volunteer parts from his lover; Zhang Zhiyun, left, Wang Yuanlong, right.  Click on any picture to enlarge.]

     Afterwards, Yihua and Yijun grow even closer.  But when war erupts, Yihua bids Yijun and his family farewell and joins the army.  Zhuofu also enlists, and the two leave for the front lines.  Before they leave, Yihua writes to Yihan, breaking off their relationship. 

    [lower right, a call to service; Wang Yuanlong, right]

    When Yihua returns from the battlefield, and his father asks about Zhuofu, the son sadly tells of how an artillery shell exploded near them, and when Yihua awoke in the hospital he could learn nothing of Zhuofu.  When she hears this, Yijun turns pale and looks horrified.  That evening, Yihua proposes to Yijun, but she sadly tells him she cannot, for she is already married to Zhuofu.  He had become a drunk, and abandoned her in the countryside.  After that, she had dressed as a man to make herself less attractive to another man who was harassing her, and finally fled the countryside for the city.  She tells Yihua, "I can only be your friend, not your wife". 
     At that time, Zhu Zhuofu, having lost a hand and a foot, crawls into the house.  When he sees Yihua and Yijun together, he makes to leave.  But Yijun stops him and brings him back, saying, "As you are today, do you really want to leave me again"?  
     At this point, Lihua brings Yihan in to welcome Yihua back.  It turns out his sister had interrupted Yihua's breakup letter to Yihan, and she has been waiting for him faithfully.  Yihua realizes where his true happiness lies, and both couples are reunited.

[This picture does not fit in with the above narrative, but I have included it anyway.  The Chinese source for this labels it a still from the movie, but since it was by no means a comedy, it was Hu Die's first movie appearance -- in a supporting part -- and the two wounded soldiers (Zheng Xiaoqiu, left, and Gong Jianong, right) were in uncredited minor roles, it was more likely an outtake of clowning around on the set.]

Tang Jie（1899—1953:) : "Mr. Wang"

[left, Tang Jie early in his movie career.  Click on any picture to enlarge it.]

Throughout the history of motion pictures, common literary sources for screen adaptations have been comic strips or comic books, including real-life versions as well as animations.  There have been many of the former in U.S. movie history, e.g. Dick Tracy, Batman, Spiderman, many others.  Other countries have given their people's favorite comic characters the big-screen treatment as well:   France, Greece, Turkey, the Phillippines, Finland, et al, have all turned comic/graphic novels into live action movies, and sometimes these have been so successful as to spawn multiple sequels.  China has been no exception, and in the classic era the most successful of these was the "Mr. Wang" series of comedies.  The comic character was a career milestone for two men involved with it:  for the young cartoonist who created "Mr. Wang" it was the initial success in what would become a long and legendary career in Chinese art circles and education; for the character's onscreen portrayer, a veteran but hitherto unheralded supporting actor, it meant a breakthrough to stardom at last. 

[left, a typical "Mr. Wang" cartoon]
 
     Around 1930, a young cartoonist named Ye Qianyu 叶浅予 (1907-1995) published a full-length comic graphic novel featuring a character he called "Mr. Wang."  Readers found the character's misadventures hilarious, and gobbled up a series of sequels.  (These collections are still in print eight decades after their initial publication.)  "Mr. Wang" was a distinct and easily recognizable character, strangely dressed and usually wearing a pith helmet on his bald head.  His partner in various comic misadventures was his friend Xiao Chen (小陈), who with his trademark Panama hat and horn-rimmed glasses resembled Harold Lloyd, although I don't know if that was the intention.  The other regular characters in the series were the two men's wives and the Wangs' daughter.

[below right, cover of a recent "Mr. Wang" book collection]

      The popular character appeared ripe for a film treatment, and in 1932 Shao Zuiweng 邵醉翁 (aka Runje Shaw), studio head and director at the Shao (Shaw) Brothers' Tianyi studio obtained the rights to make a "Mr. Wang" movie. For the title role, Tianyi selected a newcomer to that studio, veteran character actor Tang Jie 汤杰, who had worked for a succession of Shanghai studios, one of those actors whose face is quickly recognizable while the name just as often is not.  Although he was often in demand for important supporting roles, Tang had never been the lead in a major film, and by 1930 had decided his future lay behind the camera.  Zhang Shichuan at the Mingxing studio liked Tang Jie and gave him the opportunity to train by co-directing, after which he was sole director of a successful film called "Mother and Son," co-starring Xuan Jinglin and Zheng Xiaoqiu.  Tang's prospects at Mingxing seemed bright, but Zhang Shichuan's mentoring of Tang had aroused the jealousy of several other Mingxing employees.  The result was that Tang Jie left and moved over to Tianyi.

[left, Tang Jie in his "Mr. Wang" persona]     

    Although "Mr. Wang" the movie, directed by Shao Zuiweng and released in 1934, was a success, as far as Tianyi was concerned that was the satisfactory end of the matter. But Tang Jie had other ideas:  he recognized this as his big chance, and seized it.  Since Tianyi had not thought of "Mr. Wang" as a franchise, they had only obtained the rights to make one movie; Tang secured the film rights to the character, set up his own studio Xin Shidai (New Era), and turned out three sequels in 1935, all directed by and starring himself.  Correcting their earlier oversight, the Tianyi studio contracted with Tang to continue the series with them.

[right, Tang Jie, with Zeng Xuesong as Xiao Chen in 'Mr. Wang's Secret' (1935)]
  
        The "Mr. Wang" series of films were the most popular domestically-produced comedies on Chinese screens in the late 1930s, and after a decade of struggle (starting with being disowned by his family, who considered his career choice an unforgivable loss of face) Tang Jie had achieved genuine star status.  He (or rather Mr. Wang) was in demand off-screen as well as on, portraying the character on stage and making frequent appearances at various public events.  Tang Jie buried his own personality in that of Mr. Wang, shaving his head, assuming the character's distinct dress and appearance year-round and in public (complete with pith helmet and wispy moustache), and in the most extreme action, having his front teeth pulled.  Tang was unmarried, but regarding the lack of teeth he once said, "Maybe no woman will ever love me, but all that matters is that I look ugly.  The only real inconvenience is that sometimes when I'm eating, I'll swallow without really tasting the food."  So total was the transformation of actor into character that he was always referred to in the media and in public as "Mr. Wang," and people who met him addressed him that way, not as "Tang Jie." 

[from left to right, Tang Jie, Sang Shuzhen as Mrs. Wang, Huang Naishuang as Wang Liuru (Miss Wang), Zeng Xuesong as Xiao Chen, and Zhai Qiqi as Mrs. Chen in 'Mr. Wang Visits the Countryside' (1935)]    

 

[Tang also portrayed Mr. Wang on stage, as in this 1930's production, right]    

    The last three Mr. Wang movies were released in 1940, after which Tang Jie abruptly left motion pictures and disappeared from public view, with nothing more heard of him until the announcement of his death in Shanghai in 1953.

Resources:

Fang, Shuo 方朔.  "Tang Jie zai ying jie shiwunian" 汤杰在影界十五年 (Tang Jie's 15 years in movies) Dianying Xinwen 《电影新闻》(Movie News), no.10, May 12, 1939.     

______________.  "Tang Jie" Yingmi Huabao 《影迷画报》(Movie Fan Pictorial), no.16, August 10, 1940. [appears to be a slightly updated reprint of the previous citation, although not identified as such.  The title link is to our archived English translation of the full article]

Lu, Jie 陆洁.  "Tang Jie jun" 汤杰君 (Mr. Tang Jie) Dianying Zazhi《电影杂志》(Movie Magazine), no.7 (n.d.)

The Last Days of Zhou Xuan

[The following is a translation of an article which originally appeared in China's largest-circulation movie magazine.  Any use of the article in further research should cite the original as well as The Chinese Mirror as the source of the translation.  The bibliographic citation for the original article is: Jin, Xingdi 金幸迪. "The Death of Zhou Xuan" (周旋之死) Popular Cinema no.7 (2002), p.44]

[left, Zhou Xuan as the Concubine Zhen in "Secret History of the Qing Court, with Shu Shi as the Emperor Guangxu]

In the 1948 movie "Secret History of the Qing Court" (清宫秘史), there is an important scene in which the Emperor Guangxu and his concubine discuss whether they should go with the Empress Dowager Ci Xi, "the Old Buddha," in fleeing the Chinese capital. For if they do not, and the foreigners come, what would they do then?  There was a significant alteration from the original stage play on which the film is based.  In the play script, the expression used in referring to foreigners in this scene and throughout the play was "foreign devils." However, after screening the movie, the Hong Kong British authorities objected, so the completed film was edited to change every reference to "foreigners."  In the scene, the concubine tells Guang Xu, "And if the foreigners do come, and worse comes to worst, I can only die once!"  This is by no means a traitorous statement:  quite the opposite, it expresses a fragile woman's determination and courage, as well as the patriotic spirit of the film's makers.

In the end, the Emperor Guang Xu fled.  The movie was filmed in a section of Kowloon called Sha Tin (Mandarin:  Shatian).  At that time, Sha Tin was still fairly undeveloped, with only unpaved dirt roads everywhere.  The film's makers recruited young people from the area for crowd scenes, dressed them all in Qing period clothing, and as the actor playing Guang Xu passed, everyone knelt before him. Wearing a lightweight/black gown and a small cap, Guang Xu slowly rode away from his people, as a voice in the background says, "The people had gained paradise, now it was lost".  This line was added by the director Zhu Shilin.  In doing this at just the time when the civil war on the mainland was entering its final phase, with a succession of Communist victories and steady Nationalist retreat, Zhu Shilin's purpose was very clear.  As he had said earlier that year, "Why are we making 'Secret History of the Qing Court'?  With the Nationalists almost finished, I wanted to depict the internal struggles of the Qing court.  After I had written about its internal collapse, I wanted to film the Nationalists' downfall". Zhu Shilin was a highly educated man, a true artist as well as a patriotic intellectual.  He may not have had a profound understanding of Communism at that time, but his writings display a longing for a better world, and an unbending hatred for the dark society of old China.  His addition to the original play script probably stemmed from a desire to insert something of his own hopes into it.

Zhou Xuan was not only a fine actress, she also had a keen fiscal sense.  Although she had a sizable income, and earned quite a bit from record sales, she remained very frugal, very restrained in her spending. But there were times when events in her life would lead her to reconsider her approach to financial matters. She had little life experience, a naive young woman who simply believed whatever others told her, accepting without question what she was told by anyone she trusted.  This may have indirectly contributed to her later tragic fate.  As the director Bai Chen recalls it, during the filming of "Secret History of the Qing Court," Zhou Xuan married a man named Zhang, and became pregnant.  Out of concern that she might lose the baby, she never went out for a walk without using a cane for support, but in the end miscarried anyway. As it turned out, her husband was exploiting her, and this marriage caused her considerable mental damage. Zhou Xuan returned to the mainland after the founding of New China in late 1949, but began suffering from mental illness not long after.

There was another contributing factor to her mental problems:  prior to Liberation, there was a studio head named Zhang Shankun, one of the powers of the film industry.  He owed Zhou Xuan US$6,000, a considerable amount of money at that time. But his own fortunes had taken a downturn, and he lacked the means of repaying the debt, a major blow to Zhou Xuan.  Zhang Shankun wrote to Zhou Xuan, proposing that he book for her a music concert in Southeast Asia.  An astute businessman, Zhang Shankun knew how popular Zhou Xuan was in that area, and believed she could earn a great deal of money from a concert performance, not only enough to cover the debt, but in addition he would pay her HK$20,000 above that.  But Zhou Xuan had already returned to the mainland, with no way of leaving again.

A series of setbacks like this drove Zhou Xuan over the edge.  There were widespread rumors at that time that she had died upon her return to China, but the reality was that she had checked into Shanghai's Hong Qiao [Red Flag] Hospital for treatment, and later went to Beijing for treatment of a pancreatic ailment.  During her time in Beijing, a steady stream of political and governmental figures called on her to offer support.  After this period of treatment, she returned to the Hong Qiao Hospital with her physical condition much improved.  Her doctors suggested that as part of her mental therapy she choose some of her old friends to visit her often to chat, which might help her gradually begin to recollect some events from the past.  So the Shanghai Film Studio agreed to let three of her old colleagues (including fomer co-star Zhao Dan) stay with her for a week at a time each, in turn, and then have her into their own homes as a guest.  As Bai Chen recalls it in his memoirs, when she came to his home, upon her arrival at his street, many of her admirers would come out of their houses to see her.  Each time she visited, these neighbors would have already prerpared her favorite snacks.  While she was now showing more clarity in her thinking, there was still a worrisome slowness in her actions, for example when the guests tried to organize a taping of her greatest record hit, "Song of Four Seasons".  At each of these visits, there would be a reporter present from the New China News Agency to photograph and interview her.  It was this way on probably three occasions. Later, one day when she was at the hospital she suddenly became dizzy.  The diagnosis was that she had meningitis.  She lapsed into a coma, and while she would have occasional periods of lucidity,  and look as if she wanted to speak, she could not.  At last, Zhou Xuan, China's most popular singer of the 1930s and arguably its leading actress of the early sound era, passed away on September 20, 1957, at the age of 39. 

Hong Kong's First Feature-Length Film: "Rouge (1925)"

    In an earlier post, we discussed "Ma Jiefu" the 1926 full-length film adaptation of a story from Pu Songling's 17th century collection, "Strange Stories from Liaozhai," that has proven so rich a source of material for Chinese filmmakers over the decades. But that was actually just the first adaptation from a Shanghai studio:  the first Chinese production was done a year earlier, in Hong Kong.  In addition to being the first filmed adaptation from this classical collection, it marked another first:  it was the first full-length motion picture from a Hong Kong studio.   The movie's makers read like a Who's Who of early Hong Kong cinema:  in addition to Li Minwei, the father of Hong Kong film, and his real-life wife Lin Chuchu (the first Chinese woman to appear on screen) as the lovers, it was directed by Li's  brother Li Beihai (who also played the first villain) and featured Liang Shaobo, director of the first Hong Kong-made film, in the role of murderous second villain.  Some Chinese sources list this as a mainland film, but the Minxin studio had not yet relocated to Shanghai, and while filming was done across the border in Guangdong, the studio was still located in Hong Kong.

Yanzhi (1925) 胭脂 (Rouge).  This is the English title listed in mainland Chinese references.  The Hong Kong English title was:  Love is Dangerous .  Thanks to Mr. Frank Bren for this additional information.)

    Minxin.  Silent.  Release date:  February 20, 1925.  Direction and Screenplay:  Li Beihai, adapted from a short story in the Liao Zhai Zhi Yi ("Strange Stories from Make-Do Studio") by Pu Songling (1640-1715).  Cinematography:  Luo Yongxiang.  Cast:  Lin Chuchu (as Yanzhi), Li Minwei (as E Qiuzhun), Li Beihai (as Su Jie), Liang Shaobo (as Big Mao).

    One day, as a girl named Yanzhi ("Rouge") is out with her friend Madame Wang, she meets a handsome young man named E Qiuzhun.  Afterward, when Yanzhi tells her friend how attractive she found the young man, Madame Wang jokingly offers to act as their matchmaker.  Madame Wang mentions the incident to her lover Su Jie, and he tries to exploit the situation by disguising himself as Qiuzhun, then sneaking into Yanzhi's home in the middle of the night in an attempt to seduce her.  But Yanzhi, although deceived into believing that the intruder is really Qiuzhun, firmly rejects him anyway. Su Jie leaves, taking along one of the girl's shoes as a souvenir.  The shoe later comes into the possession of a thug called Big Mao, who also sneaks into Yanzhi's home at night in the guise of Qiuzhun, with the same intent of seduction.  This time, Yanzhi's father intercepts the intruder, and in their struggle the father is killed. Big Mao flees, leaving the shoe behind.  E Qiuzhun is accused of the crime, tried and convicted.  But Qiuzhun persuades the local authorities to reopen the case, and further investigation gains him a new trial, which this time results in an acquital.  At the end, he and Yanzhi become husband and wife.

Happy Birthday, Yu Nan!

     Today is September 5 in China, and on this date in 1978 Yu Nan, the editor's favorite actress (and dream girl) was born in the beautiful port city of Dalian, Liaoning.